Concept: A community's wealth is not given to it by God. It arises out of the synergy of the community, comprising the efforts and mores of the community's people, including their leaders ... whose efforts and mores, by the way, may be in conflict with those of the people.
Concept: If a community's people contributes to the production of wealth by their efforts or by their adherence to the rules of the community, they have a rational right to a rationally proportionate share of that wealth. For example, if we expect people not to steal bread when they are hungry in a community with enough bread to go around, then we had better make sure everyone is fed. It is as simple as that. It is irrational to expect others to quietly go off and die so that I can keep eating.
Concept: Raising the broad foundation for sharing does not impose a limit on the height of the solitary pinnacle. It does, however, provide a firmer footing.
Concept: The United States of America has lost its way in the world and become absurd—economically, politically, ethically— BECAUSE we allow the corporate monopolists' dictum of self-interest to trump truth as an ethical value. We are in that situation of just having driven off the cliff and while not yet falling because the thrust of our forward progress still overcomes the pull of gravity, we cannot stay the course and the only change of course left is to crash. Make no mistake, the corporate monopolists in their greed—selling our birthright of core values that would guide us toward oughtness for a pot of porridge—are the root cause ... while the rest of us pray that we will win the lottery before it all comes crashing down.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Thoughts on Bill and Hill(ary)
Bill and Hillary are card-carrying members of the political class that is in bondage to corporate monopolists seeking to make the normal pyramid of wealth distribution into an obelisk on the broad base of low-wage labor.
These are people who believe wealth is dispensed from above by God or an Invisible Hand, and not generated out of the synergy of the community producing goods and services for use and exchange in what should be a rational market.
As an aside: In this drive to amass wealth and power, it seems like our friends of the Judaic-Christian persuasion have forgotten the Biblical concept of Jubilee.
You know, the real wealth of a community is like the potential power in a compressed spring. What can be done if it is freed to work? That wealth resides in the health and education of the people. Leaders who do not understand this are Pharoahs building their tombs.
These are people who believe wealth is dispensed from above by God or an Invisible Hand, and not generated out of the synergy of the community producing goods and services for use and exchange in what should be a rational market.
As an aside: In this drive to amass wealth and power, it seems like our friends of the Judaic-Christian persuasion have forgotten the Biblical concept of Jubilee.
You know, the real wealth of a community is like the potential power in a compressed spring. What can be done if it is freed to work? That wealth resides in the health and education of the people. Leaders who do not understand this are Pharoahs building their tombs.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Regarding the fate of the eight ...
It's so darn simple ... If we the people don't have the right to know "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth" about how justice is applied by our government, then why do we even bother calling ourselves a "government of the people by the people for the people"?
The Democrats and Republicans are NOT two Texas Junior High School football teams, for chrissake ... on whom we are keeping score ... except maybe in the minds of the emotionally stunted psychopaths in the White House.
Geez-lou-eeze, doesn't anyone know how to govern around here? (With apologies to Casey Stengel.)
The Democrats and Republicans are NOT two Texas Junior High School football teams, for chrissake ... on whom we are keeping score ... except maybe in the minds of the emotionally stunted psychopaths in the White House.
Geez-lou-eeze, doesn't anyone know how to govern around here? (With apologies to Casey Stengel.)
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Unemployment under 5%?
In today's (Thursday, March 15) NY Times, Bob Herbert writes:
The core of Herbert's column is that unemployment for large groups of black men is a third or more.
Our nation is living in such a deep state of denial regarding our economy that we have no realistic chance of turning it around for the common good before we crash.
We have become the Theater of the Absurd ... The Alice In Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass of industrialized nations ... because we call ourselves a Christian nation and we do not heed the demands of Christianity's core values:
Another theme from the book of Daniel in Old Testament that fits us is the story of the hand writting on the wall:
The national unemployment rate came in at 4.5 percent last week and was generally characterized as pretty good. But whatever universe those numbers came from, it was not the universe that black men live in.You can read the column, The Danger Zone if you have TimesSelect ... which I recommend if for only having regular access to Bob Herbert and Paul Krugman.
The core of Herbert's column is that unemployment for large groups of black men is a third or more.
Their employment histories are gruesome. Over the past few years, the percentage of black male high school graduates in their 20s who were jobless (including those who abandoned all efforts to find a job) has ranged from well over a third to roughly 50 percent. Those are the kinds of statistics you get during a depression.
For dropouts, the rates of joblessness are staggering. For black males who left high school without a diploma, the real jobless rate at various times over the past few years has ranged from 59 percent to a breathtaking 72 percent.
Our nation is living in such a deep state of denial regarding our economy that we have no realistic chance of turning it around for the common good before we crash.
We have become the Theater of the Absurd ... The Alice In Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass of industrialized nations ... because we call ourselves a Christian nation and we do not heed the demands of Christianity's core values:
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] not to one of the least of these, ye did [it] not to me.
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.Matthew 25:41-46 New Testament KJV, www.blueletterbible.org
Another theme from the book of Daniel in Old Testament that fits us is the story of the hand writting on the wall:
And this [is] the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
This [is] the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.Daniel 5:25-28 Old Testament KJV, www.blueletterbible.org
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
It's the oil, stupid
Antonia Juhasz in her OpEd piece today in the NY Times, Whose Oil Is It, Anyway?, explains how the Bush 43 administration is working to open a substantial amount of Iraq's oil reserves "to international oil companies for a generation or more." Quoting her:
Iraq’s oil reserves — thought to be the second largest in the world — have always been high on the corporate wish list. In 1998, Kenneth Derr, then chief executive of Chevron, told a San Francisco audience, “Iraq possesses huge reserves of oil and gas — reserves I’d love Chevron to have access to.”
and ...
Iraqis may very well choose to use the expertise and experience of international oil companies. They are most likely to do so in a manner that best serves their own needs if they are freed from the tremendous external pressure being exercised by the Bush administration, the oil corporations — and the presence of 140,000 members of the American military.
Iraq’s five trade union federations, representing hundreds of thousands of workers, released a statement opposing the law and rejecting “the handing of control over oil to foreign companies, which would undermine the sovereignty of the state and the dignity of the Iraqi people.” They ask for more time, less pressure and a chance at the democracy they have been promised.
It's the oil, stupid.
Monday, March 12, 2007
The new economics - Post 3
We have turned our very persons into commodities: the accountant, the teacher, the mechanic, the doctor, the professional sports person, the lawyer, the CEO ... and so forth and so on ...
In a real sense we have stopped thinking of ourselves as human beings first: mother, father, lover, son, sibling, ... citizen, neighbor.
In so much of what we do we have internalized our obligation to enhance our own value as a commodity as much as possible. We have swallowed hook, line and sinker the concept that by giving ourselves the best shot at making the most money possible, we are choosing the best means of enhancing the common good. We select the "issues" and the "views" we will publicly support with a careful eye on their impact on our resume. God forbid that we would get arrested in a public demonstration! And dare we be seen at a protest rally ... about anything?
And how do we know if we have succeeded in maximizing our own value? By the wages package we "earn" as the market commodity we have converted ourselves into, of course.
In the process the whole endeavor has morphed into shortest, direct straight shot at getting the most money we can ... and skipping anything between that we can. Winning 100 milion or more in the lottery is the pinnacle of success.
And if we are going to apply ourselves at something, we justify it as a way to increase our earning power. Exercise, education, even repose and rest are not seen as enriching our lives as much as potentially enriching our wallets and purses. We even have the saying of the "trophy spouse" ... a relationship that is designed to make us better candidates for upward mobility in the wage ranks.
Need I tell you ... as the Biblical prophets told the Israelites ... that selling our birthright of humanity—the creative imagination to turn swords into plows, and selfishness into caring for others—will destroy us?
And that it takes generations—the sins of the fathers will be visited on his sons and his sons' sons (in the sexist language of the day)—to alter course?
And we have yet to experience the calamity that will get us to even think of changing course, let alone start the course correction?
The image is of driving full-speed off the cliff and not yet starting to fall ... in a state of denial.
In a real sense we have stopped thinking of ourselves as human beings first: mother, father, lover, son, sibling, ... citizen, neighbor.
In so much of what we do we have internalized our obligation to enhance our own value as a commodity as much as possible. We have swallowed hook, line and sinker the concept that by giving ourselves the best shot at making the most money possible, we are choosing the best means of enhancing the common good. We select the "issues" and the "views" we will publicly support with a careful eye on their impact on our resume. God forbid that we would get arrested in a public demonstration! And dare we be seen at a protest rally ... about anything?
And how do we know if we have succeeded in maximizing our own value? By the wages package we "earn" as the market commodity we have converted ourselves into, of course.
In the process the whole endeavor has morphed into shortest, direct straight shot at getting the most money we can ... and skipping anything between that we can. Winning 100 milion or more in the lottery is the pinnacle of success.
And if we are going to apply ourselves at something, we justify it as a way to increase our earning power. Exercise, education, even repose and rest are not seen as enriching our lives as much as potentially enriching our wallets and purses. We even have the saying of the "trophy spouse" ... a relationship that is designed to make us better candidates for upward mobility in the wage ranks.
Need I tell you ... as the Biblical prophets told the Israelites ... that selling our birthright of humanity—the creative imagination to turn swords into plows, and selfishness into caring for others—will destroy us?
And that it takes generations—the sins of the fathers will be visited on his sons and his sons' sons (in the sexist language of the day)—to alter course?
And we have yet to experience the calamity that will get us to even think of changing course, let alone start the course correction?
The image is of driving full-speed off the cliff and not yet starting to fall ... in a state of denial.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
It's time to impeach Bush/Cheney!
To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up [that which is] planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
It is time to impeach.
By John Nicols, March 7, 2007, in The Nation
Here's the Middlebury, Vermont, resolution:
We the people have the power -- and the responsibility -- to remove executives who transgress not just the law, but the rule of law.
The oaths that the President and Vice President take binds them to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." The failure to do so forms a sound basis for articles of impeachment.
The President and Vice President have failed to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution" in the following ways:
1. They have manipulated intelligence and misled the country to justify an immoral, unjust, and unnecessary preemptive war in Iraq.
2. They have directed the government to engage in domestic spying without warrants, in direct contravention of U.S. law.
3. They have conspired to commit the torture of prisoners, in violation of the Federal Torture Act and the Geneva Convention.
4. They have ordered the indefinite detention without legal counsel, without charges and without the opportunity to appear before a civil judicial officer to challenge the detention -- all in violation of U.S. law and the Bill of Rights.
When strong evidence exists of the most serious crimes, we must use impeachment -- or lose the ability of the legislative branch to compel the executive branch to obey the law.
George Bush has led our country to a constitutional crisis, and it is our responsibility to remove him from office.
Pass it on!
"Attacks on Iraq Shiite Pilgrims Continue" ... Dah!
Quoting Lauren Frayer's AP article, March 7, 2007, posted on www.huffingtonpost.com:
My comment in response:
Our absurd leadership has once again altered the dynamics of the conflict without adequately preparing for the predictable results.
We do not have and never have had and now never will have enough boots on the ground to control the insurgency ... like not being able squeeze the entire balloon, so it pops out wherever there is a lack of pressure ...
So saying we are doing the best we can as people are being killed is absurd especially when what we have done and are still doing is creating the ground of the violence in which they are being killed.
And all this so some general (Petreus) can get his "battlefield command experience" and keep his career on track? 'Cuz if he told the truth--according to his own criteria for fighting an insurgency--and said, "Y'know, this ain't gonna work," he would be canned.
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Attacks on Shiite pilgrims showed no sign of easing Wednesday with at least 11 people killed by bombs and gunfire as they streamed toward a Muslim shrine ahead of a weekend holiday.
The targeted violence came a day after two suicide bombers exploded themselves among pilgrims lining up at a checkpoint, killing at least 120 people and wounding about 190, police and hospital officials said.
My comment in response:
Our absurd leadership has once again altered the dynamics of the conflict without adequately preparing for the predictable results.
We do not have and never have had and now never will have enough boots on the ground to control the insurgency ... like not being able squeeze the entire balloon, so it pops out wherever there is a lack of pressure ...
So saying we are doing the best we can as people are being killed is absurd especially when what we have done and are still doing is creating the ground of the violence in which they are being killed.
And all this so some general (Petreus) can get his "battlefield command experience" and keep his career on track? 'Cuz if he told the truth--according to his own criteria for fighting an insurgency--and said, "Y'know, this ain't gonna work," he would be canned.
Bush, Cheney, & the Neocons aka The Theater of the Absurd
Quoting from Tom Friedman's column in today's—Wenesday, March 7—NY Times, titled, "Don't Ask, Don't Know, Don't Help", regarding scenes from our own Theater of the Absurd:
"Mr. Bush summoned the country to D-Day and prepared the Army, the military health system, military industries and the American people for the invasion of Grenada."
and ...
"In an interview last Jan. 16, Jim Lehrer asked President Bush why, if the war on terrorism was so overwhelmingly important, he had never asked more Americans 'to sacrifice something.' Mr. Bush gave the most unbelievable answer: 'Well, you know, I think a lot of people are in this fight. I mean, they sacrifice peace of mind when they see the terrible images of violence on TV every night.'"
This ain't funny, folks. Our best and brightest working class youth are being devoured while the wealthy get tax breaks. Like the late Moll Ivins would ask, "How come we aren't in the streets at least making noise?!"
"Mr. Bush summoned the country to D-Day and prepared the Army, the military health system, military industries and the American people for the invasion of Grenada."
and ...
"In an interview last Jan. 16, Jim Lehrer asked President Bush why, if the war on terrorism was so overwhelmingly important, he had never asked more Americans 'to sacrifice something.' Mr. Bush gave the most unbelievable answer: 'Well, you know, I think a lot of people are in this fight. I mean, they sacrifice peace of mind when they see the terrible images of violence on TV every night.'"
This ain't funny, folks. Our best and brightest working class youth are being devoured while the wealthy get tax breaks. Like the late Moll Ivins would ask, "How come we aren't in the streets at least making noise?!"
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Libby found guilty!
Well, well, well ... now it's really going to get interesting ...
'Cuz the rule in the CYA crowd is that you start expecting to have your own ass protected when you cover the backside of the person ahead of you ... and Libby was good at his position in the daisy chain ...
So ... does he get a pardon? ... or ... does he out Cheney if he doesn't get a pardon?
I think he will hold strong, banking on the pardon. But I don't think the pardon is a sure thing ... Bush 43 has already started to put some distance between him (B43) and Cheney. This could allow B43 to start pinning the whole fiasco set on Cheney as the Darth Vader to the Emperor.
'Course Libby will stay out of jail on appeal ... so it will be awhile before the rubber hits the road ... but we have the elections of '08 coming up ... and something will have to be done to remove Libby as red meat ... so either the pardon will be done right away so it can get lost in all the other horror stories coming down the pike ... or it will have to wait for the twilight hours of the last day of B43's presidency and after the election ... but that's damn risky, 'cuz Libby will be hanging out there if he actually is out of prison ...
The gentlemanly thing for Libby to do would be to pop into prison sometime before the election and show he's a straight shooter for the boss (Cheney) and the Party ... thereby letting his negatives sorta die down ... then get his pardon for having served enough time.
'Course, I would love to see Libby rat out Cheney to avoid prison. Wouldn't that be fun?
Any way it goes, it's gonna be interesting ...
'Cuz the rule in the CYA crowd is that you start expecting to have your own ass protected when you cover the backside of the person ahead of you ... and Libby was good at his position in the daisy chain ...
So ... does he get a pardon? ... or ... does he out Cheney if he doesn't get a pardon?
I think he will hold strong, banking on the pardon. But I don't think the pardon is a sure thing ... Bush 43 has already started to put some distance between him (B43) and Cheney. This could allow B43 to start pinning the whole fiasco set on Cheney as the Darth Vader to the Emperor.
'Course Libby will stay out of jail on appeal ... so it will be awhile before the rubber hits the road ... but we have the elections of '08 coming up ... and something will have to be done to remove Libby as red meat ... so either the pardon will be done right away so it can get lost in all the other horror stories coming down the pike ... or it will have to wait for the twilight hours of the last day of B43's presidency and after the election ... but that's damn risky, 'cuz Libby will be hanging out there if he actually is out of prison ...
The gentlemanly thing for Libby to do would be to pop into prison sometime before the election and show he's a straight shooter for the boss (Cheney) and the Party ... thereby letting his negatives sorta die down ... then get his pardon for having served enough time.
'Course, I would love to see Libby rat out Cheney to avoid prison. Wouldn't that be fun?
Any way it goes, it's gonna be interesting ...
The new economics - Post 2
Today's—Tuesday, March 6, 2007—Star-Ledger carried an article by Amy Ellis Nutt, Star-Ledger staff, titled, "Study: Canned food has toxic chemical".
Here's the lead paragraphs:
"A plastic ingredient used to line many kinds of food and drink cans may be poisoning pregnant women and infants, according to study commissioned by an environmental advocacy organization.
"Cans of commonly eaten goods, such as soup, fruit, vegetables and soda, were found to contain more than 200 times the acceptable level of bisphenol-A, the study says. BPA is a plastic resin repeatedly linked to a host of health problems including breast and prostate cancer, infertility, diabetes, obesity and asthma."
This is how the so-called "free" market protects us by letting us pay the costs of the mistakes of those who gain the profits.
Why doesn't anyone or any entity have to prove the benign nature of the substances they introduce into our environment? Yes, I can understand the failures of past ignorance ... BUT we have known for some time that a wide array of substances can have harmful effects ... and we STILL have powerful folks trotting out the province of the Invisible Hand as the best caretaker of the common good.
Don't get me wrong, the market can exert a powerful influence for the common good ... but there is nothing absurd about setting rational rules to dampen its obvious harmful excesses. We can simply observe the differences between major league baseball and major league football to learn that concept. I mean George Steinbrenner and the Yankees are grotesque, don't you think?
Here's the lead paragraphs:
"A plastic ingredient used to line many kinds of food and drink cans may be poisoning pregnant women and infants, according to study commissioned by an environmental advocacy organization.
"Cans of commonly eaten goods, such as soup, fruit, vegetables and soda, were found to contain more than 200 times the acceptable level of bisphenol-A, the study says. BPA is a plastic resin repeatedly linked to a host of health problems including breast and prostate cancer, infertility, diabetes, obesity and asthma."
This is how the so-called "free" market protects us by letting us pay the costs of the mistakes of those who gain the profits.
Why doesn't anyone or any entity have to prove the benign nature of the substances they introduce into our environment? Yes, I can understand the failures of past ignorance ... BUT we have known for some time that a wide array of substances can have harmful effects ... and we STILL have powerful folks trotting out the province of the Invisible Hand as the best caretaker of the common good.
Don't get me wrong, the market can exert a powerful influence for the common good ... but there is nothing absurd about setting rational rules to dampen its obvious harmful excesses. We can simply observe the differences between major league baseball and major league football to learn that concept. I mean George Steinbrenner and the Yankees are grotesque, don't you think?
Friday, March 02, 2007
Hillary, dillary ... is going down the drain
Hillary enlists Bill to try to halt her campaign from going down the proverbial tubes. It may get a blip, but it won't change the outcome ... and that's because Hillary has so many visceral negatives she never will be elected President ... and MOST real small "d" democrats know this.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
The good ol' USA as the Theater of the Absurd
The USA as theater of the absurd ... where down is up ... the Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass effect.
The latest two examples are (1) sending properly trained and equipped troops is somehow NOT supporting the troops, and (2) the problems—in this case Building 18 at Walter Reed Hospital—the military faces are the result of the grunts as a few bad apples ... or the media not focusing on the positive issues of the day.
This is continuing evidence of the mantra that I best serve the common good by serving my own self-interest. You know, the world where the common good is guided by the Invisible Hand ...
Seems I remember an old story—one that the neocon idiots should be familiar with since it comes from the Old Testament—about the harm that is done by selling one's birthright (core values) for porridge (personal benefit).
"These people" at the top are tripping all over themselves to preserve their personal perks ...
The other iconic image of our generation is Thelma and Louise driving off the cliff ... with a little twist to the motivation, I can picture us having shot off the proverbial cliff ... and because we are still flying, we think we are doing great.
Maybe these grand leaders should study history. It ain't the working class that gets led to the guillotine when comes the revolution ... like when we crash.
Our biggest worry will be to avoid some fascist bastard promising to save us from ourselves.
The latest two examples are (1) sending properly trained and equipped troops is somehow NOT supporting the troops, and (2) the problems—in this case Building 18 at Walter Reed Hospital—the military faces are the result of the grunts as a few bad apples ... or the media not focusing on the positive issues of the day.
This is continuing evidence of the mantra that I best serve the common good by serving my own self-interest. You know, the world where the common good is guided by the Invisible Hand ...
Seems I remember an old story—one that the neocon idiots should be familiar with since it comes from the Old Testament—about the harm that is done by selling one's birthright (core values) for porridge (personal benefit).
"These people" at the top are tripping all over themselves to preserve their personal perks ...
The other iconic image of our generation is Thelma and Louise driving off the cliff ... with a little twist to the motivation, I can picture us having shot off the proverbial cliff ... and because we are still flying, we think we are doing great.
Maybe these grand leaders should study history. It ain't the working class that gets led to the guillotine when comes the revolution ... like when we crash.
Our biggest worry will be to avoid some fascist bastard promising to save us from ourselves.
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